The Shadow Mage
by TowardStars
Summary: 300 years ago, shortly after the five kingdoms signed a treaty banning all forms of magic, a terrible curse was cast over Albion. Now, magic has almost been eradicated, and what remains of it is twisted and evil. Merlin must protect the last of her people who have not turned to the dark, while also secretly defending the non-magical from the gathering malevolent forces.(Fem!Merlin)
1. Chapter 1

**The Fall (Three Hundred Years Ago)**

A figure in white passed through the silent battlefield, carefully stepping her way over the corpses of the fallen. The fighting had only recently ceased, leaving the field desolate and ripe with death. Yet no tears fell from the figure's face. Her eyes were empty and dry.

She crouched down by a young soldier and bowed her head.

"I suppose this is my fault."

A raven hopped down the corpse to perch on the frozen elbow.

"I should have noticed. I should have seen what she was doing. And it was _me, _it was _my _gift that allowed her to... to…"

The raven pecked violently at her hand.

She sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right. But I fear what is to come. This is only the start, and already so many have died." She looked up. "We will Fade. There is no stopping it now."

The raven cocked its head to the side, letting out a single cry.

"No, my lord Woden. There is nothing that I know of that can stop this. Not anymore, not when the poison has spread into the very Other, and we are so weak."

Silence fell between the two.

"Things are going to get bad. Things are going to get _very _bad."

The raven cawed its agreement.

* * *

_First chapter done! (The rest will be longer, I promise. This is just the prologue.) It's gonna be a long ride. I'll try to update at least once a week, but life might get in the way, so don't hold me to that. __Constructive criticism is always appreciated, even if it's "bin the chapter, it sucks." Seriously, people, feel free to say that at any time. Just not every time, hopefully. :) And if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or would like to exchange witty insults, drop me a P.M. _

_Here we go!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Just in case you haven't picked up on it yet, this story is a bit AU. Merlin is female, and the ban happened 300 years ago, which changes a lot. Society is different, and therefore the characters are going to be in different places than they were in the show. If you want to read something that sticks more to the show, there's a wonderful archive you can click on where you can find a bunch of amazing things. (And some not-so-amazing things. Not sure quite yet which category this story falls into.)_

* * *

Merlin pressed herself against the tree, chest heaving. She closed her eyes and cast her senses out, carefully searching for her enemies.

The hounds stood out vibrantly on her mental landscape. They were bright, shining with savage energy and bloodlust. They left a dark golden trail glittering in their wake, a streak that slowly disappeared in the air as they raced toward her.

Seekers were harder to spot. They had gear designed to dampen their energy signature. Every article of clothing was meticulously embroidered with runes, while their weapons and armor were coated in iron. For lesser mages, Seeing them might even be impossible. She herself could only catch glimpses of them, random white flashes that gradually got closer to her hiding place.

And then for her final adversary. In her mind it was dark green, almost black. Just looking at the blemish made her sick. There would be no healing this one. It was way too far gone. She would be forced to kill it.

Having regained her bearings, Merlin took off again. There was little time to waste. Her research had told her that there were no Seekers in the area, but the villagers had evidently lied. She had began the hunt only to realize that the special unit of knights had beaten her to the chase.

Had the scenario been normal, Merlin would have let the Seekers take care of it. It wasn't as if they were completely inept at their duty, and she wasn't so suicidal as to _want_ to risk gaining their attention. But this wasn't a normal hunt. This was personal.

Merlin saw the creature up ahead and quietly pulled out her knife. She glided forward over the forest floor, moving almost completely in silence, before raising her hand to let the weapon fly.

"Oh, Merlin. You wouldn't hurt a friend, would you?" it asked, mocking. She froze.

"You're not my friend," she said softly.

"Oh, but we are! Remember when you were nine, and we put frogs in Gareth's bed? He tried to get us back, but never could. And remember when you graduated to Tracker? We stayed up celebrating for two whole-"

"Shut up," Merlin said, her voice deadly low. "Elaine never would have murdered those people. You're not her. She's dead."

"So harsh," it mocked, stepping back and placing a hand over its heart, as if offended. "But I look exactly like her, don't I? And I sound like her, too. Face it, Merlin, we're one and the same."

"You sound nothing like her, you filthy Corrupt." The hounds were closer now. She only had a few moments, but she couldn't bring herself to finish it off quite yet.

It sighed. "Like it or not, I _am _Elaine. Just new and improved! I got tired of watching our people suffer, and finally decided to do something about it."

"You burned down a village," Merlin spat. "Those people did _nothing_ to you."

"Still ignorant as ever, Emrys_,_" it said. "They deserve to know how we feel. They deserve to realize out suffering. And you, you who is supposed to protect our people, make no move to give us justice. Someone had to step up."

"There was nothing right about what you did, Elaine. Your actions went against everything we stand for," she replied. The hounds were almost upon them. She steeled herself to act.

"Then why are you stalling? You could have killed me by now, yet here you are, talking. Deep down, you know my actions were justified," it said, stepping forward, reaching toward her. "Open your mind to me, and I'll show you. Just-"

Merlin threw the knife. The creature sank to the ground, staring blankly at her. The blade was hilt-deep in its chest.

She walked over to the body, which was already dead, and knelt. "I'm sorry, Elaine," she breathed. "Goodbye, my friend."

She opened her mouth to say more, but the sound of metal being drawn from a scabbard interrupted her. A cool blade caressed her neck.

Merlin cussed. The Seekers must have caught up to the dogs and decided to spare her from the hounds. They had snuck up on her. Of all the times for them to be charitable.

"Stand up," the owner of the blade said.

She stood.

"Turn around, slowly."

She turned, before promptly cussing again.

The five Seekers wore the red and gold dragon of Camelot. They were Uther's men, and would therefore be completely loyal to their king. Bribery was no longer an option.

Uther was a strange king. He was just as harsh as the other monarchs when it came to the crime of magic, but otherwise, he seemed to almost care. While the other kings and queens seemed more interested in their own treasuries, he provided for the people. If they starved in a famine, he and his family would too. If there was a battle, he would command Camelot's army from the front line.

He had even trained his son, his only heir, as a Seeker. And Seekers tended to find themselves dead in some remote location far more often than other knights. Killing creatures of magic, or tracking down magic users, subduing them, and bringing them back to Camelot City for trial was not an easy feat. Even with the right equipment, Seeking was deadly.

So yes, Merlin knew money would get her nowhere. She would have to run.

"Hold out your arms," one of them commanded.

Right. Like she was going to follow _that_ order. Merlin had no interest in being cuffed in magic-dampening, iron-coated chains. Just the runes were enough to make her sick. The iron layer, however, was worse. It would probably vaporize her skin. The metal had a nasty habit of acting like acid when put into contact with organic magical material, the more powerful the magic, the stronger the acid. Unfortunately, a magic user's flesh counted as organic magical material.

Out of diplomatic options, she ducked away from the blade resting at her neck and lunged for the underbrush. She tried to teleport away, but as she suspected, the knights had long-distance anti-magic runes with them. She had to get out of range.

Merlin managed to get about twenty feet before the dogs made her rethink her plan. As soon as the first canine leapt out of the bushes, teeth pulled back in a snarl, she knew getting out of range wasn't going to happen.

She would have to break the runes.

The mage scrambled up the nearest tree, evading the snapping jaws by a hair's breadth.

"I sincerely hope that the runes weren't drawn well," she murmured, before throwing all of her energy into a teleportation spell. For a moment, nothing happened. Then there was the loud crack of metal snapping, and everything seemed to explode.

When Merlin's vision cleared, she was lying on a grassy hill. Her head pounded, but she smiled. At least two of her teachers had told her specifically to never try such a feat. Their words were something along the lines of such an act requiring too much energy, something about fainting, and possibly pranks.

"Great," a voice said from above her. "_Now_ you show up."

Merlin shaded her eyes and looked up. "Gareth!"

"Yeah, hello to you too. Come on, I've been trying to contact you for an hour. There's been another skirmish on the border of Irisandi."

Merlin sobered instantly. "How many?"

"We only lost three. The Guardian held, of course. But.. Emrys…"

She suddenly gained a horrible feeling. "Spit it out, Gareth."

"There were over fifty Corrupt in the attack."

Merlin felt the blood drain from her face.


	3. Chapter 3

Merlin raced toward the sanctuary's war room, adrenaline chasing through her veins like fire. She sprinted through the hallways of the old temple, barely noticing the large, towering doors that branched off on either side. Gareth's footsteps echoed behind her.

* * *

As long as Merlin could remember, her life had been filled with trial after trial. Her earliest memory was of her parents looking at her, frozen in horror as she formed creatures out of smoke and flames in the fireplace. Her mother had began to cry, and her father had strode forward, waving his hand to extinguish the blazing representation of a butterfly.

Merlin remembered crying then, upset that her father had destroyed her toy, and terrified that she had done something wrong. Her father had picked her up and murmured soft words into her hair. Most of them she couldn't understand or recall, but there were a few that were branded in her memory. They had haunted her life ever since that moment.

"Oh, my little bird, I'm so sorry. My dear child. You have inherited your papa's gift. Oh, little bird. You will never be able to let anyone see your true self, now. You are destined to hide forever, be part of the shadows, my sweet, sweet child."

A few days later, the three left their home. Her father had said that there were sanctuaries scattered throughout Albion, places where magic users could live freely and without fear. He had grown up in one, and it was to this same place that he led them. They had almost made it.

Less than a mornings' ride away from the haven, the Seekers found them. Her father held them off while Merlin and her mother ran. The sentries at the sanctuary had taken the two in, but were unable to find Merlin's father, Balinor.

She had been three. Ever since then, she had wondered what had happened to him.

It was the first taste of tragedy the girl experienced, but it was not the last.

When Merlin first got to the sanctuary, she had been numb from the loss of her father. But two years passed, and things seemed to get better. She made friends among children like her, children who could do things that were feared in the outside world. She learned reading and writing, mathematics, and the history of her people. She learned how to recite spells, and use her magic as instinctively as her hands. She learned to be happy.

And then she learned that even in the sanctuaries, she was not safe.

Merlin's first experience with the Corrupt was in midwinter. One moment she and six other kids were having a snowball fight, and then the next a boy Ari was trying to kill her friend, Gareth. Ari was screaming, screaming about how Gareth deserved to die, to burn, to be thrown to the Seekers. He had gone wild, throwing spells that Merlin could have sworn moments before he didn't even know.

"I'm going to _kill _you! I'm going to _rip you apart_ and make you _bleed!_ You filthy, idiotic, pathetic-"

Iseldir, the leader of the sanctuary, had knocked the raving child unconscious with one blow. The revered man stood over Ari's prone form, grief evident in every line of his face. He summoned the guards to bind the child.

Gareth was badly wounded with burns and cuts littering his body. Iseldir carried him to the healers, but it was almost too late. By the time they arrived at the infirmary, Gareth was gasping and coughing up blood, while his body was wracked with tremors.

The other children had been ushered away by their parents, but Hunith was on a mission for Iseldir, carrying a message to one of the other sanctuaries. Merlin stood silently by Gareth's bedside, white with shock.

As the physician sank into a healing trance, pouring energy into Gareths wrecked body, Iseldir glanced at her, before beginning to speak.

"As you know, almost three hundred years ago, the five kingdoms signed a treaty banning the use of magic."

It was a story Merlin had heard many times before. Each time she begged her mother to let her leave the camp, go explore the world, the words were repeated.

"Although magic had always been used freely, the Kings and Queens were terrified of its power. For how could they hope to stay on the throne, if any sorcerer or sorceress challenged them?

"In secret they conspired, slowly gathering the information needed to defeat their imagined foes. They collected books about runes, learning how to repress magic, or restrain a magic user. They learned what ancient symbols could track magical energy, which would inevitably help them pursue fleeing sorcerers. They coated their weapons and armor in iron. They built dungeons warded so powerfully that one would have to be of the Bright Ones, the kin of the Triple Goddess Herself, to escape.

"Some of our people were warned, of course, gifted with foresight. They fled from the cities to five of our hidden temples, Haven, Irisandi, Zarain, Kaebera, and to here, Girian. They concealed the sacred grounds and built the Guardians, powerful beings created through the focused energy of hundreds of protection runes. But not everyone could run from the storm that was coming.

"The Kings and Queens declared magic punishable by death, and sent out a new order of knights, the Seekers, to murder all who disobeyed. With their improved weapons, escape was almost impossible. It takes so much energy to break a rune… very few who had not fled earlier stood a chance."

Merlin couldn't help herself. She hated this story, yet it was ingrained into her head. She couldn't listen to the rest. "And then our people suffered," she interrupted, "and thousands of innocents died. After years of the royals declaring us evil, the people began to believe the lie, and ever since we've had to live like we don't deserve to show our face to the-"

Iseldir placed an aged hand on her shoulder, kneeling to come face-to-face with her. "Calm yourself. What our kin went through is unbearable to think about, but you do not yet know the entire tale. You are so young, and I had hoped to spare you this a while longer, but it appears I no longer have a choice.

"The people did not blindly follow their leader's decision. Keep in mind, they had been friends, neighbors, even family with sorcerers and beings of magic. No, something drastic changed the way people viewed us.

"A few days after the ban, magic got… sick, you could say."

"Sick?" Merlin asked, confused. "How could magic get sick?"

"It became unbalanced. Your studies are going well, so I assume you know of the Pantheon?"

"Yes, Iseldir. The Pantheon is made up of the Bright Ones, the gods and goddesses kin to the Triple Goddess, and the Dark Ones, the Demons who dwell in the Shade. The powers of the Demons are equal to that of the Bright Ones, but the two are in constant conflict. Their very natures make them enemies. The Demons represent destruction and selfish power, while the Bright Ones represent life and healing. So they battle in the Other, the world beyond ours, in a vain attempt to vanquish their foe."

"Indeed. Both sides have followers, as I'm sure you know. And just like the Pantheon, both groups of followers are drawn into an instinctive conflict.

"When the ban was first introduced, thousands of followers from both sides were killed. This weakened the entire Pantheon- but the Bright Ones more than the Dark Ones. The Dark Ones, seeing an opportunity to gain an advantage over their enemies, and desperate to save themselves, did what no being had ever attempted before. They directly interfered with the neutral magic on our world, tipping the balance. They poisoned it, placed a dark taint in the energy that slowly spread, so that any, even those who follow the Bright Ones, could be touched by their malevolence.

"And once one is exposed to the dark, it taints the mind. It morphs the soul, until one becomes so twisted that there is no similarity between who they once were and the thing that they became.

"This is the truth of the matter. This is what happened to Ari. When performing some spell, he must have used a portion of the magical energy that had been tainted. And so he became a Corrupt."

Merlin felt sick. She could barely organize her chaotic thoughts enough to ask one of the questions dancing in her brain.

"But… but it was so sudden. He just… he was fine one moment, and the next he was... he..."

Iseldir sighed. "That's how it works. Sometimes, the soul fights off the taint, but the poison grows, and grows, and grows. And then, after enough time, the soul's defenses just collapse. This results in Ari's situation. One moment he was fine, and the next, his entire being was flooded with the Dark.

"Other times, the taint is to faint for the soul to notice. It seeps in, unhindered, and in this case the change in personality is more gradual. When this happens, others notice the change before all is lost, and sometimes the person can be cleansed."

Merlin had nodded, before looking up, eyes wide with fear. "Wait. You said… you said that magic itself is poisoned. So whenever someone accesses magic, instinctively or to do a spell…"

"They could become tainted."

Horrified understanding dawned. "That's why they hate us. Iseldir, that's why they hate us! Because some of us have become Corrupt, just like Ari, right? And those people, they actually _do _become the monsters that the Kings and Queens said we are. And if magic itself it tainted, than all the creatures, like the fey, and the griffins, and the dragons, they could become Corrupt too!"

"Yes, little one."

"So what happens to them? The Corrupt? What will happen to Ari?"

Iseldir hadn't answered.

Years later, Melin volunteered to become a Tracker and defend the innocent. She had watched five friends fall to the dark, seeing firsthand the damage they could do. She vowed to find and take down any Corrupt, no matter the species, no matter who they used to be.

* * *

Gareth and Merlin burst into the war room. Iseldir stood at the head of a long oak table, conversing rapidly with two other sanctuary elders.

"There were fifty Corrupt in the attack?" Merlin asked sharply, interrupting.

They turned toward her. "Yes. It appears they have grown more bold," one of the elders said.

"And this is only six days after the last attack on Irisandi," the other added. "They are not only increasing the size of the assaults, but the frequency of them as well."

"What are they trying to do?" Gareth asked. "It's as if they're trying to incite all-out war with us."

Merlin opened her mouth to dismiss the idea as ridiculous, but froze. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room.

Several beats passed. "Why would they do that, though?" she finally ventured. "Why now, after three hundred years? What would war achieve? That doesn't seem likely."

Iseldir closed his eyes. "It's more likely than one would expect. Emrys, as the years have passed, we have only gotten weaker. And they too are declining in power, yet at a slower rate. A victory over us would give them the strength to survive another several hundred years without difficulty, and right now, a victory for them has never been easier to achieve."

Gareth spoke up, evidently disturbed. "So they _are_ attempting to bait us into war."

"We fear so," one of the elders said.

Gareth frowned. "But that still doesn't make sense. The Guardians will remain strong. Even if a thousand Corrupt gather outside one of the temples, they won't be able to break the runes."

That's when it occurred to her. "It was too obvious."

Iseldir looked at her carefully. "What was too obvious?"

"The attack. They had fifty attack us. Before that, the largest group they brought to our borders contained ten, maybe eleven Corrupt. They must have known that we would get suspicious, and they've know about the runes ever since they were put up. The attack wasn't a declaration of war, nor was it an attempt to draw our forces out. It was a warning. They're going to even the ground."

"What are you saying?" Gareth asked cautiously.

"The Trackers. We train Trackers to go and hunt the Corrupt in order to protect those who can't defend themselves," Merlin said. "They know we care about what happens to the non-magicals."

"They're going to attack one of the five kingdoms to draw us out of our borders," Gareth stated flatly. "And they're giving us a warning so we'll go, leave the only secure ground we have, and move into the open for them to massacre at will."

"…yes," Merlin said.

"Great. So what do we do?" he asked, looking around. "We can't just take the bait. Besides, we don't have enough people to fight a war on five fronts."

"No. We don't. But they aren't going to just attack a kingdom randomly, are they. I mean, out of all the realms, the Corrupt hate Camelot the most. It's the most justly governed out of all five. They despise that the non-magical peasants are actually treated _well_," Merlin pointed out.

"But we still can't send an army to Camelot. The fact remains that the Corrupt are more powerful than us. We'd be slaughtered, and then the non-magicals would be even more defenseless," Gareth said. "Not to mention the people we'd be protecting would also try to kill us. Just saying."

"Then we ignore it. Camelot has Seekers, some of the knights can fight against magic. Let them deal with the Corrupt," one of the elders interjected. "It's not as if they would help us if the situations were reversed."

"Never," Merlin spat. "I swore to protect the defenseless, and as skilled as those knights are, they stand no chance against an army of Corrupt unaided."

"Then it is decided." Four heads turned toward Iseldir in complete confusion.

"What's decided?" Gareth asked, bemused.

"Emrys will disguise herself, go to Camelot, and take a position in the royal household. She will assist the knights in fighting the Corrupt while protecting the members of the royal household."

Merlin gaped. "I'm going to _what_?"

* * *

_Well. That was quite the information dump, and if anyone thought it was boring, or couldn't get through it, or is just utterly confused, please tell me. That being said, thanks to EasilyDistractedBookWorm, life is short so am I, and Anne-Lilian for dropping me a line last chapter. Your reviews were _much _appreciated!_


	4. Chapter 4

So, this is pathetic. A grand total of 3 chapters and 4,000 words. Unfortunately, my wrists have been bugging me, and it turns out that I've developed tendinitis. Apparently, the combination of Creative Writing Class, the many essays assigned in English, and writing in my free time has accumulated to Too Much Typing.

My doctor has banned me from using the computer for anything but schoolwork, and I actually shouldn't be writing this note. As it is, I felt I owed those who have read, followed, favorited, or reviewed a heartfelt thanks and an explanation for my absence. I plan to take this fic down on Saturday until the time that I'm cleared for writing, which could be a while. I don't really want to add to the pile of abandoned fics that are scattered throughout the fandoms.

Anyways. Thanks, and I'll be back.

-TowardStars


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